Slow Food farm dinner

This annual event is held at Clyde's Willow Creek Farm in the Broadlands near Ashburn. The encroaching exurbia in Loudon County robs the setting of any rural character, no matter what you call the restaurant. However, the tables were set up in a courtyard that sheltered the diners from any views of intruding sprawl, and made for a charming venue.

The six-course menu opened with passed hors d'oeuvres -- a tiny slice of pork belly served on a spoon with a sliver of peach (stole the show); small, fluffy onion tarts; and a yellow tomato consomme served in a paper cup with frozen a cherry tomato that was very light and summery. The wine was a sparkling SP Blanc de blancs from Kluge Estate in Charlottesville that was like a good prosecco. A second aperitif was a very refreshing white sangria made with a mix of pinot grigio and viognier, a dash of soda, and peach slices and plump blackberries for the fruit.

The first seated course was roasted poussin (baby chickens) served with roasted peaches, greens sauteed in bacon fat, pickled onions and herbs. The white meat was very delicate in flavor, while the leg had a more robust taste, like a good confit. The wine was a rose from Barboursville Vineyards, dry and crisp and very French.

Next came jumbo lump crab cakes with the super-fresh crab meat supplied by Russell Hall Seafoods in Fishing Creek, Maryland. The single cake rested on kernels of local corn and a tomato coulis rounded out the dish beautifully. A Chardonnay Reserve from Jefferson Vineyards was light with only a hint of oak and accompanied it well.

The main course was a wood-roasted Virginia prime rib of beef served with a tomato smokey blue cheese gratin (the tomatoes were bursting with flavor and set off perfectly by the creamy blue cheese) and mini-fingerling potatoes. The beef was drier than your typical prime rib because of the wood roasting, but very tender and flavorful. The red Garnett from Hillsborough Vineyards in Purcelville tried to keep up but demonstrated once again how difficult it is to produce a good red in Virginia.

Artisanal cheeses were not local, the chef explained, because it was not a good season for local cheeses, but the selection from New York, Vermont and Wisconsin was very nice.

Dessert was a warm corn cake with sweet corn ice cream and blackberry compote. The cake suffered from not being able to come straight out of the oven, but the ice cream, with the barest hint of corn flavor, was tasty and fresh and the blackberry compote was terrific. A very accomplished dessert wine, Moonstone from Hillsborough, made a perfect finish.

Ample as the menu was, we missed having a salad, which would seem like a natural at a farm dinner. But it was a terrific package and for $65, wine and service included, a great bargain.

Slow Food is an international organization set up to counter fast food. In the U.S., it supports local foods and sustainable production. The DC chapter organizes an event about once a month.

Part of the program was an explanation from the Clyde's chefs about the chain's commitment to local produce, dating back 25 years. The restaurant actually grows some vegetables at the Willow Creek Farm. Of course Clyde's does not offer this kind of menu at its restaurants, for whatever reasons, so it may not represent the real solution to America's food quandary. But it's a step in the right direction.

Other speakers -- who spoke only briefly between the courses -- described the great success of the farmer's market in Olney after overcoming many obstacles and related something incomprehensible about biodynamic growing. Ann Yonkers, one of the cofounders of the Fresh Farms farmers' markets, demonstrated with an apple how little of the earth's service is given over to agriculture, but it might have been more interesting to hear her talk about farmers markets.